


Life Is A Game -Play It

by Brumeier



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Community: picfor1000, Fluff, Friendship, Games, M/M, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-24
Updated: 2016-01-24
Packaged: 2018-05-15 20:33:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5799010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brumeier/pseuds/Brumeier
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just a day out at Coney Island for Bucky and Steve.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Life Is A Game -Play It

**Author's Note:**

> This story was inspired by my assigned [photo](https://www.flickr.com/photos/mthomas/1935755228).

Stevie puked his guts out after they rode the Cyclone. Bucky felt bad about that, even if he didn’t regret making the kid ride the coaster in the first place. Stevie was almost sixteen and most of those years had been spent indoors because he had a laundry list of health problems. Bucky'd made it his mission to help the kid get out and experience as much as possible. That’s what best friends were for.

Coney Island might have been overshooting it.

“Sorry,” Stevie said when he finally finished. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. 

“Come on. I’ll buy you a soda to rinse with.” Bucky slung his arm around Stevie’s narrow shoulders.

“Already wasted a nickel on me.” Like it was his fault he hadn’t been able to keep that Nathan’s dog down.

“Wasn’t wasted. Don’t be an idiot.”

“You’re the idiot,” Stevie said, nudging Bucky with his shoulder. But at least he had that stupid grin back on his face. “You know, we could ride it again. Now that my stomach’s empty.”

The trouble with Stevie, Bucky reflected, was that he didn’t know when to stop. “Nah. Let’s hit up the arcade.” 

Bucky shelled out another nickel for a root beer and let Stevie have first go so he could rinse the puke taste out of his mouth. They shared the rest between them as they made their way to the arcade. Bucky had saved up his odd job money and back alley gambling wins for three whole weeks just so they could have some fun. 

Stevie’s game was Skee Ball; the kid had deadly accuracy with those wooden balls. Bucky was better at the shooting games. He hit the target almost every time, which made a very satisfying _ping_. 

They drew a little crowd at the pinball machine. Stevie might’ve been too puny for a lot of the real physical stuff, but he had long, deft artist’s fingers. Bucky cheered him on, and soon other kids were too. A girl in a halter top and pleated skirt stood up by the display, making eyes at Bucky. He might’ve offered to take her for a stroll on the boardwalk, but not today.

When he was out with Stevie he didn’t have eyes for anyone else.

The other guys Bucky ran with didn’t get why he hung out with such a sickly scrap of a kid, but that’s just because they didn’t know Stevie. He was like a lion trapped in an alley cat’s body, all loyalty and fierce protectiveness and over-sized sense of moral justice. From the first day they’d met, Bucky’d always thought that Stevie was much too big for the body he’d been given.

“Step aside, shrimp.” A guy wearing a black leather jacket pushed Stevie out of the way and took his place at the pinball machine. “Leave this to the big kids.”

There was some grumbling from the crowd, and a few titters, and Bucky’s hands curled into fists when he saw the embarrassed flush on his friend’s face. Before he could deal with that chump himself, though, Stevie was right in there. He tried to shove the guy back and didn’t look at all flustered when he didn’t budge.

“That’s my game.”

“Let the kid finish,” someone shouted.

Bucky sidled closer, ready to intervene if things got physical. And with Stevie they almost always did, like the kid got off on getting pummeled. 

“You got moxie, runt.” 

The guy in the leather jacket gave Stevie a once-over, and then stepped away from the pinball machine. And damn if the kid didn’t look disappointed. But there was cheering from the crowd, and so Stevie grinned and resumed his game. Which he then proceeded to lose.

“Come on, punk.” Bucky dragged him back outside. He could hear a wheeze a mile away, and some combination of the close quarters and the almost-fight had Stevie’s airways tightening up.

“I could’ve taken him,” the kid said.

Bucky rolled his eyes. “Sure you could’ve. Come on, Green Hornet. Let’s take a break from righting wrongs and have a smoke.”

He pulled out a battered pack of Luckies and a book of matches. He lit Stevie’s asthma cigarette before he lit his own. If the smoke didn’t help, they’d have to go home and Bucky wasn’t ready to leave yet. It wasn’t often they got to have a day out like this and he wanted to make the most of it. He was relieved when Stevie’s breathing started to ease up.

They sat and smoked, watching people passing by with hot dogs and cheap prizes from the boardwalk games. Bucky could hear the freak show barker out trying to drum up some business, but he knew Stevie wouldn’t want to go there; kid always said he felt too much like a freak himself. 

“What now?” Bucky asked. He took one last drag and then crushed the remainder of his cigarette with his boot. “You pick.”

“Let’s go to the Bowery. Play some real games.”

They ended up at one of those water chase games, aiming a stream of water at a tiny bullseye. It was a game Bucky could easily win, but he decided it would do Stevie good to have a victory of his own. While the kid focused on his target, tongue poking out, Bucky sabotaged the two other players by blocking their water streams with his own. 

“I won!” Stevie’s face lit up like the sun, and Bucky had no regrets. 

The kid picked out a prize, a little stuffed elephant, which he promptly tossed to Bucky. “You keep it.”

“What am I gonna do with this thing?” Bucky asked, amused.

“Elephants always remember,” Stevie said. “So now you’ll never forget us. Uh…being here today.”

The kid was blushing, and shuffling his feet, so Bucky stuffed the elephant into his pocket and slung his arm around Stevie’s neck. Pure affection washed over him.

“As if I could ever forget you, punk.”

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from a quote by Sai Baba:
> 
>  
> 
> _Life is a song - sing it._  
>  _Life is a game - play it._  
>  _Life is a challenge - meet it._  
>  _Life is a dream - realize it._  
>  _Life is a sacrifice - offer it._  
>  _Life is love - enjoy it._


End file.
